Abtis Co. Ltd., Dong-A ST’s newly incorporated subsidiary since December 2023, is making headway with its leading Claudin18.2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidate, AT-211, according to Abtis CEO Taedong Han. “About 80% of gastric cancers do not have HER2 overexpression, but 77% overexpressed Claudin18.2,” Han told Bio Korea 2024 audience members on May 9, stressing that AT-211 was found to be highly potent against cancer cells expressing Claudin18.2 in ADC cell viability studies.

Biopharma financings rebounded in May, reaching $9.15 billion and marking a 48% increase from $6.18 billion in April. However, value is down from the $13.84 billion in financings seen in March and $22.3 billion in February. This year’s monthly average of $12.52 billion reflects an 112% increase from the average of $5.91 billion per month in 2023.

Trophoblast cell-surface antigen 2 (TROP2) antibody-drug conjugates became a topic of talk during the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.

In 2024, the value of biopharma nonprofit deals is tracking slightly higher than the previous year, but still significantly lower than the value seen in prior years. Meanwhile, grants to biopharma firms have dropped by more than 50% compared to last year’s monthly average. The U.S. Department of Defense emerged as the leading grant issuer to biopharma firms, and also saw the highest-value nonprofit deal in the sector.